Self-Rated Health and Relative Socioeconomic Deprivation in the Palestinian Refugee Communities of Lebanon

• Published in: Journal of immigrant and minority health Vol. 21; no. 6; pp. 1257 - 1265
• Main Authors: Habib, Rima R., Hojeij, Safa, Elzein, Kareem, Chaaban, Jad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01.12.2019; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Arabs - statistics & numerical data; Communities; Comparative Law; Cultural Deprivation; Data processing; Demographics; Deprivation; Discrimination; Economic analysis; Economic deprivation; Economics; Female; Food Supply - statistics & numerical data; Generalizations; Health; Health Status; Households; Humans; Indicators; International & Foreign Law; Lebanon - epidemiology; Low income groups; Male; Marginality; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Original Paper; Other Articles; Palestinian people; Poverty; Poverty - ethnology; Poverty - statistics & numerical data; Private International Law; Public Health; Questionnaires; Refugees; Refugees - statistics & numerical data; Regression analysis; Relative deprivation; Self evaluation; Social Marginalization; Social workers; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic Factors; Sociology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Workers; Young Adult; Lebanon; Lebanon; Refugee; Socioeconomic status; Health; Palestinian
• ISSN: 1557-1912; 1557-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s10903-019-00869-7

Most Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are marginalized as refugees, poor, and targets of discrimination. This study seeks to understand deprivation among these refugees through an exploration of the relationship between indicators of general health and economic deprivation. A nationally representative sample of 2501 Palestinian refugee households were randomly selected and surveyed in 2010. Social workers interviewed the homemaker in each household using a questionnaire on health, economic, and socio-demographic information. This data was analyzed to understand the associations between health and levels of deprivation. 31% of respondents reported poor health and nearly 52% of households had two or more poverty indicators. The logistic regression found each degree of deprivation associated with a 33% increase in poor health (OR 1.33; CI 1.20–1.47). This study suggests understanding deprivation among impoverished communities requires a nuanced approach. Generalizations about experiences of poverty will generate ineffective policy and intervention strategies.